FairyTale
by fringeperson
Summary: A Cinderella take on Cat Returns, only this time Baron is the pauper.
1. Chapter 1

Once upon a time, in a small kingdom quite far from here, there lived a wealthy landowner and her son. Her husband, and the father of her son, was dead. How and why, she didn't know, only that it had happened on one of his business ventures. His body had been sent back, shattering her hope that it had been a mistake.

As her son grew, she was concerned for his welfare. As much as she loved him very much, she knew that he needed a father. The male servants of the house could only be so much of a role model, after all. Therefore, she married again. To a man of some small standing at court – a Baron. A widower and father of twin boys himself, boys who were just her own son's age.

What she did not know was that she had married a man of black magic, who had killed his wife before her shortly after she gave birth to Damien and Gustavo, his sons.

Her son he bewitched into the form of a half-cat, and forced him to work as one of the servants. His mother was changed into a crow and died soon after the change. Threatening to reveal him to the villagers in his new, monstrous form if he did not behave, Humbert knew that all he could do was find peace where it was available to him – in his dreams.

His stepbrothers were less attractive than their father's magic made them appear. All that black magic took its toll on what had once been fair faces. Certainly, it did nothing for the quality of their souls.

Frequently, the family left the estate for months at a time, leaving Humbert to tend to the duties that should have been theirs, as well as the keeping of the house. It was always to be kept perfectly, in case they returned suddenly and unannounced.

The other servants, who still thought dearly of the boy and his mother, helped him in all that they could, aiding him in the lessons that had been cut off when he had been transformed. Fencing, archery, horse riding, book keeping and of course, reading and writing. Slowly, however, his stepfather removed the servants from the house, cutting costs and adding to his understanding of the dark arts.

Humbert lamented the day his two best friends disappeared, and cried anew when they returned to him, transformed as his mother had been. Toto now had wings, black as jet and a beak as sharp as a knife. Muta was a cat, completely. It was only because he was a half cat himself that Humbert was able to understand them.

His stepfather and brothers rose in court, and left him to tend to his mother's estate, mockingly calling him "Baron" when they visited, since they had now risen above the title.


	2. Chapter 2

"I don't see what the big deal is," the princess grumbled to her maid as her corset was laced. "It's not like I'm the one who has to produce an heir after all. Machida has a wife and a baby on the way, why do I have to get married?"

"Oh Princess Haru," the maid said, pulling the strings one last time and tying them tight. "You complain about being ignored by everybody, and then when your Queen Naoko throws a ball just for you, you object to that as well!"

"I don't mind parties, Hiromi," Haru answered. "It's just the reasons behind them that irk me."

At least it wasn't for another month. She had that time to sort it out for herself, or simply sit through the whole ball listening to courtiers speak of politics, and be forced to pick the least boring one at the end of the night.

Everybody was going to be invited to the ball. It was ridiculous. Every man and his fifth-cousin by marriage would be there. Even those who were of no birth, but had made their way in the world by being sharp of mind.

Well, thought the princess to herself, at least in them there is some hope that I won't be too bored.

She wasn't about to hold her breath though.

At last, she was dressed and ready. Today, after having mentioned it to her mother, Haru would be escaping the palace for a while. No guards, no company even, it would be just her, a horse, and saddlebags with something to eat along the way.

Three hours later, the princess was wishing that she had better luck with horses. She was on foot, her black mare dancing ahead of her, teasing that she would never be able to catch it and get back on again. Normally, around the palace, it wasn't a problem. There was always someone there to catch the horse again for her when she had dismounted to have something to eat. Out here, there was no one so hospitable.

A sharp "HA!" sounded from the bushes beside her mare as a rope noose settled about the beauty's neck.

"Oh no," Haru breathed to herself, realising that someone was stealing her horse right in front of her.

A second noose went around the animal's neck from the other side of the path. The horse thief was not alone. When an arm snuck around her waist and a greasy voice whispered in her ear "Fine haul today, two beauties for us." Haru didn't think but screamed, all but giving up hope that any friendly ear might hear.

There was a sharp crack, and one of the ropes fell loose around her horse's neck. The sound of flapping and much cursing came from the other rope end before it too dropped.

"You made a mistake, thieving on my family's property," said a voice from behind, and Haru felt the arms around her waist slowly being removed. She moved quickly away and to her horse, reaching for the reigns to calm her down before she ran off all together.

A dull thud, and the sound of a body hitting the earth, caused the princess to turn, hoping that her captor, rather than her rescuer had fallen. She gasped at what she saw.


	3. Chapter 3

Or rather, at what she didn't see. All that remained was the unconscious form of her assailant. Her saviour was nowhere to be seen. Had it been a ghost? She shivered. The idea was not at all appealing to the young princess.

"Let's go," she said softly to her horse, finally mounting the black animal once again and turning her back toward the palace.

Or at least, the direction she had thought the palace was in.

Upon finding herself at the front gate of a completely unknown estate, the princess sighed and hoped for hospitality.

The few servants tending the grounds surprised the princess by politely ignoring her. It was a treatment she was unaccustomed to, and was surprised to find that it irritated her. From courtiers in their bright colours and fake smiles as they glided about, she expected it – she did her best to be little more than a shadow when they were being so superficial – from the servants in the palace though, she had always received kindness and respect.

She was dressed as plainly as she could possibly be today though. She didn't _look_ like the princess that she actually was. It took her a few minutes to remember this as she gently guided her mount to the estate master's front door.

There was a girl-child on the doorstep, very young but strangely of very white hair. She was spinning from a drop-spindle and Haru would have believed the girl absorbed completely in her task if she hadn't suddenly spoken to her.

"I am grateful to say that the lord isn't in ladyship," the girl said, looking up from her spindle. She had such blue eyes.

"Is he a such a bad lord?" Haru asked, dismounting and holding her mare's reigns.

"He is a cruel and twisted lord. He did kill our mistress who owned this estate before, and it passed legally to him because he had married her before he committed the vile deed. He has other estates though, so he is rarely here. Only the mistress' son stays always-times, and he is rare to leave."

"You have an old-sounding tongue for such a young head," Haru observed. "Is the mistress' son a good master?"

"Oh very good, but you will not see him, ladyship. Much as he would love to welcome all into his home, he cannot," the little one answered.

"Because it is your lord's property, and not his?" Haru asked.

The girl shook her white head.

"It is more than that, lady, but the root of it all is the lord," the little one said.

"Yuki! Stop filling the lady's ears with your words and open the door for her," a voice called from one of the windows. "It's time for tea, and it would be poor manners to not invite our guest to join us."

Haru thought she saw a shadowed figure, and knew that she recognised the voice as that of the one who had saved her.

The girl rose and opened the door.

"He shan't, but I will. I will have you swear to secrecy of all that happens in this house. We do not wish the sudden return of the lord and his sons, particularly we do not wish their foul-tempered return," the girl, Yuki, said.

Haru bent slightly so that she was on exact eye-level with the girl.

"I shan't breathe a word of it," she promised, following the girl into the house as one of the stable boys took her mare away for her.


	4. Chapter 4

Yuki breathed a sigh of relief when, showing the lady into the tearoom, there was only one candle lit and that near the empty guest chair.

As for the princess, she was surprised that it was so dark that she could really only see the table and one chair. When her eyes had adjusted though, she was able to make out the vague shape of another chair with an occupant.

"Please, forgive the darkness, but you would rather not see my face," said the shadow-shrouded figure.

Haru was sure now that the one entertaining her to tea and cake by the light of one candle was the same one who had saved her earlier.

"Is that why you disappeared so quickly after saving me sir?" she asked, as politely as she could.

A light chuckle from the darkness, and she could barely help but smile in response as she accepted the seat Yuki was gesturing for her to take.

"Indeed," he said. "But I am curious, to what do I owe the pleasure of receiving Princess Haru into my late mother's home?"

Haru covered her gasp with a hand, brown eyes wide in the candlelight.

"You mustn't be surprised, highness," the stranger, her host, said, still chuckling. "We common folk all love you dearly, though I am immensely surprised to find you trying to be someone poorer than yourself."

Haru watched avidly as gloved hands poured tea and cut cake.

"I've been told that I have to get married," Haru said, surprising herself. It should not be so easy to talk to someone who she could barely see.

"You don't fancy the man?" he asked.

Haru shook her head. "It's not even that. I have a month to choose the man for myself, to be announced at a ball."

"Ah, so that is what all the commotion is at the palace," he said, taking a cup for himself and leaning back into darkness so that Haru couldn't even see his silhouette any more.

"Yes," she sighed, taking a cup for herself. "It can be anybody at all. I could pick your stable boy and as long as mother is certain that he'll treat me well, it would be fine with her. I just have to be married."

"Sounds like quite the task, oh, careful," he cautioned, as she raised the cup to her lips. "It's my own blend, a bit different every time, so I can't guarantee the taste. It's also quite hot, and I wouldn't like you to burn yourself."

"Thank you for your concern, uh, I'm sorry, we weren't introduced."

"My name is Humbert von Gikkingken, since my step-father has risen in the world, he and my step-brothers rather mockingly gave me their old title, so I suppose I'm Baron Humbert von Gikkingken now."

"May I simply call you Baron?" Haru enquired.

"If it would please you to do so, highness."


	5. Chapter 5

When the clock chimed four, the princess started, surprised, almost spilling tea on herself in her shock. They had been talking for so long, and so easily. She had even forgotten the darkness of the room, so animated was the conversation.

"I suppose I have to return to the palace now," she said with a sigh. "It was an absolute pleasure to meet you Baron," the princess added, extending a hand to him in the darkness.

She felt a gloved hand gently take her own, and barely made out the shadow of strange points at the sides of her host's head as he bent over her fingers. Feeling a soft touch to her fingers, Haru wondered at a man who had admitted during their conversation to being not much older than she was, having such a soft beard and moustache, and furthermore the length he seemed to keep them.

"Baron?" she asked gently, daring to touch on the subject that he had carefully guided their conversation around the whole time they had been talking.

"My step-father is not a nice man, highness. He dictated my appearance to me many years ago, and I cannot alter it. I think you would rather not see it," he answered. Finally giving some kind of answer.

"Very well," Haru said, though she clearly wished other than to concede. "May I visit again tomorrow?"

"Does your highness have time to visit tomorrow? I thought that certainly you should be searching for one bearable man to marry before the month is up. You would not waste your time with such as I?"

"It would not be wasted, I am certain. Perhaps even, we might be so acquainted soon that we could teach each other how to dance."

Haru knew how the steps were supposed to go, but never got them right. Baron, it turned out, had a gift for getting the steps right when he was still being schooled in the manners of a gentleman – when his mother still lived – but since then had nobody to dance with.

"Perhaps," was his answer from the darkness.

Yuki appeared in the small glow of the single candle's light to show the princess back to the door.

"We all love him," Yuki said. "Did you highness find pleasure in his company?"

Haru stopped herself from mounting her mare as the stableboy held the animal and turned to face the white-haired girl properly.

"_You_ love him, don't you?" Haru asked gently.

"Not that way," Yuki said. "He has been an older brother to me since my parents died, and is helping me find my way in the world, supporting my decisions. I don't want him to be hurt highness."

"I found great pleasure in his company, more pleasure in his company than in any of the queen's courtiers. Oh, but you mustn't let on that I said so," Haru said, smiling.

Yuki smiled too - delighted. She had stood behind the princess' chair all through tea, a sort of chaperone, even though she was younger than both of them were. She had realised that simply making conversation with someone his own age, and with a similar level of intellect and interest in the world, had been something that the late mistress' son had been missing.

"Highness, if I may be so bold?" Yuki started.

"Please do be. I like nothing better than someone who is unafraid to speak their minds," Haru answered with seriousness and sincerity, holding Yuki's hands in her own.

"Without seeing his face, do you like him?"

"I do, though I admit that I am as curious as curious about what he looks like, but that is to his discretion."

With that, Haru mounted her mare and, with good directions this time, returned to the palace.


	6. Chapter 6

"Humbert my friend, that was just shameful," Toto said, shaking his black-feathered head in the darkness.

"I was the perfect gentleman to the princess at all times," the ginger gentleman insisted quietly.

"Exactly," said Muta. "She obviously wanted to know you better, and you kept all the walls of etiquette up between you."

"She deserves a man who can walk with her in the light. I can't do that," Baron insisted gently.

Neither of his friends could find an argument for that. At least, not yet. They all dropped the subject.

When Haru returned to the palace, still on her horse amazingly enough, her older brother, Machida, the crown prince, was discussing something with the head groomsman. Both men smiled when they saw her.

"Did you enjoy your ride, sister dear?" Machida asked, offering a hand to help her down from the horse.

"Very much."

Machida stopped and double-checked, peering intently into his little sister's face. His gaze had been boring into her for almost a minute when he suddenly stepped back, a surprised but delighted smile on his face.

"You must have found someone you could talk to. You usually only get that look in your eye when you've been knee deep in books at the monastery, having meaningful conversations with the monks. Don't tell me you went to the monastery."

Haru laughed. "No brother, I didn't. I got lost, had my horse nearly stolen, was rescued, and had tea with the man who saved me. He's absolutely fascinating."

"Ah, tea with a fascinating man who saved you," Machida said, putting on his 'wise' voice. For a while the royal siblings walked in silence, until the prince spoke again. "Smitten?" he asked, casually.

Haru gawked in indignation before throwing a punch at her brother's shoulder.

He just laughed and ran.

She laughed and chased him.

"Baron von Gikkingken?" asked Queen Naoko later that evening as the royal family had their supper together in their private dining chamber. "I confess to having never heard of him before dear."

"His land is that just a short ride behind the palace though," Haru said, perplexed. Yes, she had been told that he hardly ever ventured forth from the estate… but to live so near the palace and not be known?

"That land belongs to the Lord de Tourney," the red-haired monarch said, herself now wearing a confused expression. "He used to be a baron, but he had risen in prestige at court."

Haru nodded.

"I got the impression that the land belonged to his mother, then to the Lord de Tourney after their marriage and her death," Haru explained. Was there really nothing known about him?

The next day, the queen made subtle enquiries while her daughter was once more out riding. It was innocently intended, but a mother really ought to trust better her instincts regarding men who seem somehow off.

"My step-son, highness?" Lord de Tourney asked, falsely pleasant. Within, a rage was boiling against the princess for giving Baron any contact with the outside world and even more against Baron himself for encouraging it. The boy should know better by now.

The queen nodded, indicating that she was indeed asking after the son that the lord had never once brought before the court.

"I have him conduct business on the estate for me, as I am so busy with my other lands. I have the future of my own two boys to consider as well as that of my stepson after all. Young Humbert is merely the son of my second wife, a woman who rose in the world through being shrewd."

The conversation continued with many pleasantries and the changing of the subject.

With a leer, Lord de Tourney sent his sons to their stepmother's estate. Dear Baron was due a lesson in discipline. He should really know better than to entertain anybody when there was work to be done.


	7. Chapter 7

Haru and Baron were once again enjoying tea together when a shout from outside brought their conversation to an abrupt halt.

"Yuki, take her highness out the back way," Baron said, a sharpness in his voice that Haru hadn't heard before.

"What's going on?" she asked, even as the white-haired girl tugged her out of the chair and room.

"The lord's sons. They rarely come, and every time they do, they cause the young master pain," Yuki whispered between panted breaths as she ran through the halls, still pulling the princess behind you. "He wouldn't want you to see that."

Haru followed silently after that. She didn't want to leave Baron behind to face whatever was about to happen alone, but she also knew that there as little she would be able to do. As a member of the royal family, she could order the brothers to not harm Baron, but once she was gone, her orders would not matter.

Yuki held her horse for her as she mounted, and with a worried, brave smile she farewelled the other girl before kicking the black mare into action, galloping indelicately back to the palace.

"Have you been having guests Baron?" asked Damien, the slightly older of the two brothers. His falsely handsome face was drawn up in a sneer that was most unflattering.

"Yes, sir," he answered, kneeling on the ground, his head bowed before them. If they were asking such a question, then they knew and there would be no point in trying to hide it.

"That's very naughty of you Baron," Gustavo tutted, wagging a finger. His schoolteacher impression and niceties were as false as his face.

"I cannot turn away those who need help. It is my family's creed," he answered quietly, his head still bowed.

Here, he was in the light, with his stepbrothers looking down on him in all their finery, and him in just a simple suit, his ginger, cat features clear for all to see. That didn't mean that they wanted to see his face, it was merely a statement that they would happily drag him into the village and watch the peasants he loved so much stone him to death for his appearance.

Their faces, masks of glamour and black magic mixed together, flickered, and Baron steeled himself against the sight of their true faces, so much more repugnant than his simply because his face was at least recognisable as a known creature – a cat. Their faces had simply contorted and twisted and were hideously, grotesquely malformed perversions of features. Then it started: the beating.

The first thing was a boot to the head, causing him to fall to the ground. He curled himself into as much of a ball as he could, with his tail tucked up between his legs and out of the way – it was particularly sensitive to being kicked and pulled at.

The few servants who remained from when his mother had been alive looked on, flinching at every strike to their beloved master's body. They all knew the truth, and had known the whole time, but they were only peasants, what could they do against a lord?

The beating went on for an hour before the brother's tired of the way Baron didn't fight back and mounted their horses once more to return to their father and the colourful court.

Tenderly, the servants carried Baron back inside the house and began the long task of tending to his many, many wounds.

He was in so much pain, yet the relieved thought that Yuki had gotten the princess away safely passed through his mind before he passed out completely.


	8. Chapter 8

"I'm sorry, Haru dear, but the estate of a lord is under his own jurisdiction. We cannot interfere with his property," the queen said, looking across the game table at her daughter with mild distress. The princess had been recounting her visit with von Gikkingken the day before. The activities and Haru's passion that something should be done worried her. "As long as the lord himself breaks no laws, then the crown has no place to interfere."

Haru nearly did a very childish thing by pouting, as it was, she barely stifled a frustrated sigh.

"It's politics, isn't it Mother? I detest that the commoners and servants are treated as property," she said, the furious anger in her heart barely present in her voice. Haru sounded only mildly peeved rather than burningly irate.

"It's always politics my dear. Just be glad that you don't have to deal with it, and that it's your brother's duty to rule."

Haru still rebelled against the injustice of it all, and a part of her willed the common people to all elevate themselves in the world as the Baron and his mother had done.

That thought made her sit up straight again, a spark catching light in her mind.

"Mother, the lower classes are on the rise, some of them are wealthy land owners in their own right now. Shouldn't perhaps the laws be revised if there are to be commoners who are in that position and _not_ bound by any noble obligation to the crown?" she asked, rolling the dice for her move.

Queen Naoko smiled at her daughter.

"You have your father's cunning mind, my dear. It won't be easy though. Changing laws, traditions, the way things are done, is a long and very painful process. I can start it though. Will that do for now?"

"Thank you, Mother," Haru said.

The queen nodded and rolled the dice, smiling as she moved her pieces appropriately and won the game. It had been close though.

"Now go and tend to your good Baron. Take the carriage this time though my dear. I'm sure you must be beginning to get sore from the saddle."

With a kiss on her mother's cheek, the princess was gone.

Naoko resolutely refused to cry. She _wanted_ her daughter to fall in love; she just hadn't expected that letting her do it would tug at her heartstrings like this.

Haru went to the palace physician, and left his office with a basket full of bandages, balms, herbs, poultices, and medicines in general. She just hoped that Baron would forgive her for being the cause of his pain.

"It wasn't your fault," Yuki insisted as she took the basket from Haru, the princess climbing down from the carriage herself.

"It _feels_ like it's my fault," Haru countered gently. "Please, just… I want to see him, to know that he's all right. Even if there is a screen between us so that I cannot see him, I just need to hear his voice."

Yuki nodded her understanding and lead the way into the house. A few twists, turns, and a flight of stairs later, Yuki stopped.

"I'll just check to see if he is awake to receive you, highness," the white-haired girl said.

"If he is, don't wake him," Haru answered. Though she dearly wanted to make certain with her own eyes that he would be well, she would not impose.

Yuki nodded and ducked into the room. Murmured words barely came through the door, and Haru couldn't make out a single syllable, but the door soon opened and Haru was invited in.

The room was light, but there was a screen up around the bed, preventing Haru from seeing her friend still.

"How do you feel?" she asked gently.

"I got off easy, with just a beating," Baron answered through the screen.

Haru could hear the strain in his voice, and her fury burned again at the ones who had beaten him so unjustly.

"It is shameful, what they did to you. You shouldn't have to suffer such treatment, no one should."

"You have such noble ideals, highness," Baron said, a chuckle in his voice despite the pain he felt. Strangely, it seemed to lessen in the company of the princess.


	9. Chapter 9

Haru was just saying farewell to Yuki when a cry rang out from within the house that stopped her cold.

"He's not breathing!"

Yuki gasped, hands covering her mouth as her blue eyes filled with worry.

Haru swung off her mare and dashed back into the house, Yuki following close behind.

"Highness, what good can you do? Once a person stops breathing, that's it, isn't it?" she asked, her voice hoarse as she spoke between panting breaths.

"No," Haru growled out. "It's not. It's a matter of getting the heart started again, and air into his lungs."

"Sounds like magic," Yuki said.

"It isn't," Haru answered, opening the door and letting herself in without being asked or announced. "Let me through, please," it was so close to being an order, but the please on the end just made it curtly polite.

She didn't even look at his face beyond nose and mouth. The former she covered with a hand, the other she covered with her own lips. She breathed into him, then shifted to pump his chest, counting five pumps before going back to his lips.

Haru slowly became aware as she was doing this the third time, that Baron was, quite simply, not human. At least, not human in the physical sense. No human had _that much_ hair, and at such a length. No, what he had, was fur.

Looking up at him as she pumped his chest for the fourth time, Haru realised that he was a cat, and was surprised at herself that she didn't care. Cat featured though he might be, he was still a handsome cat.

She was just about to breathe for him a fifth time when he took a shuddering gasp of his own.

Everybody else in the room breathed a sigh of relief, and Haru sat back on the bed, just looking at him, taking in every detail.

He coughed for a while, blinked his eyes – beautiful green eyes, the princess noted – then looked about the room, wondering what had happened.

"Welcome back," she said, breaking the silence and drawing his immediate attention with just those two soft words. "We were all worried you had left us."

"Highness," Baron said, shocked almost beyond words at her presence before him, able to see every inhuman feature of his face, and still smiling at him as though relieved.

"If you ever stop breathing again Baron, I will be most displeased with you and stop visiting," she said, her voice stern though she was still smiling.

"What?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"You weren't breathing sir," one of the servants said. "I don't know what you did, highness, but thank you so much for doing it."

"Hey, you think maybe those legends about waking somebody up with a kiss is true?" asked another servant. "I mean, since we just saw the princess do it and it worked and all."

"Looked a bit violent to be a regular kiss to me," said the first.

Haru blushed as she realised, that yes – she had had her mouth to his, which generally constituted a kiss.

"I just breathed for him and tried to start his heart pumping again, that was all. Our physician at the palace is very well studied, and doesn't mind me reading his journals," the princess explained.

"Alright, everybody out," Yuki ordered. "I'll keep an eye on him, and you all have things to do."

Haru almost laughed to see the smallest of them dishing out the orders, but the white-haired girl had struck her, on their first meeting, as someone who was more than they appeared.

"Highness-" Baron started.

"Haru," she said, cutting him off. "Just Haru."

"Haru," the feline gentleman corrected himself. "Thank you, but forgive my rudeness: I don't understand how you can be looking at me and smiling like that. I am –"

"The most handsome cat I have ever seen, a gentleman at all times, and a friend I wouldn't trade for anything. Also, for the record," she said, leaning in to make absolutely certain that his beautiful green eyes were fixed on her own chocolate brown ones. "You had better not be engaged to anybody else."

Baron blinked as he let the beautiful brunette's words sink in. Did she mean to say that -?

"I'm not."

"Good, because I'd hate to break you apart from someone you love, just because I fell in love with you."

She did. She did mean that. If he had it in him, he would have jumped for joy. He couldn't though, so he just smiled and wrapped one hand around hers.

"You had better come to the ball, and teach me to dance in the meantime," she said, touching her nose to his.

"I promise."


	10. Chapter 10

Haru went out every day to visit Baron, at first to help monitor his health, and then they progressed to dancing lessons and general courtship. That she always returned almost glowing with happiness did not go unnoticed by her mother or brother.

"Haru dear, whatever has gotten into you?" the queen asked one day, shocked to see, upon entering her daughter's chamber, that Hiromi was being kept from her duties because the princess was dancing. She was properly dancing, around her room, her hands poised perfectly as though her partner was right there with her, and a dreamy look on her face.

In her nightgown and with an utterly radiant smile upon her face.

"I think it's called being in love, Mother," the princess answered, finally submitting to Hiromi helping her to dress as Haru was distracted from her dancing by her mother talking to her.

"I can't object to that," Queen Naoko said with a chuckle as she sat down and watched Hiromi work on the royal daughter.

"Oh, could we make it a mask? Please Mother? The ball, can it be a masquerade? Baron isn't comfortable with people seeing his face, at least, until he's found a way to break the spell upon him," Haru said, holding the bedpost as Hiromi pulled her corset strings.

"A little late dear, the ball is tomorrow," Naoko answered. "But you never mentioned that he was under a spell before."

"Lord de Tourney apparently experiments in black magic, and used it to turn Baron's mother and one of his best friends into a crow, and his other best friend into a fat cat, while he himself is a half-cat." Haru said, sighing as Hiromi finished with the corset and moved on to tying on the skirt of her dress.

"Oh Haru, why didn't you say _that_ sooner? I think I shall never understand what goes on in your head," the queen said with a resigned sigh.

Haru almost panicked.

"You're not going to say that because he looks like a cat that I can't marry him are you? If you say I cannot marry him-"

The queen held up a hand to silence her child.

"No my dear, you love him and he loves you. I wouldn't dream of separating you, even if the rest of the court will object loudly. I was _talking_ about Lord de Tourney's use of black magic. Such activities are strictly forbidden. He can be deported, even executed for his involvement in it, depending on the things he has done," the queen said, going from doting mother to iron-willed monarch in the space of a few sentences.

There was a knock at the door.

"Yes?" Haru called as Hiromi finished buttoning her bodice for her.

"Forgive the intrusion, Highness, but have you seen her Majesty? There is a man in the south parlour who claims she requested his presence," the voice of a page said, not opening the door.

Naoko sighed and got up from her chair.

"I seem to have duties to attend to, and tomorrow is the ball, so Lord de Tourney shall have to wait," the queen said, kissing her daughter on her forehead gently before leaving her.

"Highness," Hiromi said. "Did you say your suitor had the features of a cat?"

"Yes Hiromi, he even purrs when I scratch him behind the ears just right," Haru answered, her brown eyes taking on that dreamy quality once more.

"Forgive my boldness, Highness, but the thought of such a one makes me shudder with fear at the very thought of his appearance," the blonde said.

"I am far more interested in the beauty of his soul," Haru answered, smiling to herself. "Though I think also that he is very handsome, even if he is like a cat. It is not his doing to be so."

"As you say, Highness," Hiromi said, curtsying before leaving her mistress's chamber to mend stockings.

Haru, in her own turn, danced dreamily down the halls and stairways until she reached the carriage that awaited to take her to Baron's estate.

She didn't notice the eyes that followed her, so full of malice.


	11. Chapter 11

Throughout the palace, excitement was buzzing in the air, despite the heavy levels of stress and panic among the servants as they triple-checked that everything was just right for the ball that night.

Haru, away in her chamber, lay awake on her bed thinking over Baron's farewell words the previous day.

"I think my stepfather is planning something, I don't know what, or why I think this, but please be careful Haru," he had said as he helped her into her carriage.

She had dutifully promised and kissed his cheek in farewell before he closed the carriage door for her and waved her off.

The princess knew that she should be sleeping now so that she would be awake through the night for the ball, but an uneasy feeling had roused her rather than Hiromi parting the curtains – which the maid had not done that morning in order that the princess would sleep longer.

Baron was pacing his chamber.

"Humbert, relax. Haru said yesterday that she would wait for you personally at the gate for you so that the servants wouldn't turn you away by mistake," Muta said, chewing his way through a roast goose.

"Has it occurred to you, lard ball, that our friend is worried about something else?" Toto demanded harshly from where he stood on the mantelpiece.

"Of course it has, I'm no bird-brain," Muta countered with a growl. "But unless Humbert can figure out what de Tourney is going to do, there isn't anything that _he_ can do, so what point is there in worrying about it?"

Toto stared down at the friend he loved to fight with.

"That was surprisingly insightful, Muta," the crow said. "Are you feeling well?"

"Very funny. Just because you couldn't see the obvious," the fat cat said, returning to his meal of chicken.

Baron sighed and fell into his chair. Muta had a point. Worrying wouldn't help, but still, he wished he had some idea of what his stepfather was thinking.

Lord de Tourney and his sons were, for a rare moment, shrouded in dark cloaks rather than glamour to hide their disfigurement. It wouldn't do to have one spell affected by the presence of others.

"Our little Baron will regret having ever met the Princess, and she him by the time this spell is done," de Tourney said, wicked eyes narrowing in hateful pleasure as the elder of his two sons stirred the spell pot.

Gustavo laughed horribly, adding an ingredient to the spell.

Damien grinned sickeningly, stirring it in properly.

"We'll have to put in a cut-off clause for this one though Father," Damien said. "It wouldn't do us any good for the whole court to be feline forever."

"Too many enemies," agreed Gustavo, nodding.

"Ah my boys, so smart, I'm proud of you. Yes, by dawn the court may return to normal, the royal family however…" the lord let the delightfully tantalising thought hang for a while.

"Dependant on us for glamour so that they may rule the country without upset," Damien said at last, a hunger in his voice at the power they would then be able to wield with the monarchy under their thumb.

"Oh Father, _do_ let me make it a challenge for the Princess," Gustavo said, his deformed hand reaching for another clause to the spell they were mixing.

"A chance for her to break the spell? Where is the fun in that?" de Tourney asked.

"An impossible chance Father," Gustavo assured. "With every court member of a feline disposition, she will have a very hard time finding little Baron among them, and an even harder time getting them to all calm down so that she can state she shall marry _him_, and before dawn. She shall have an even harder time, if she has to find the _right_ Baron," Gustavo said.

Lord de Tourney laughed.

"This idea pleases me," the father said. "Do it."


	12. Chapter 12

Baron was surprised to hear the sound of a carriage in the drive, but waited patiently for Yuki to either summon him, or bring in his guest.

When she did come in, it was rather sooner than he had anticipated, and she was carrying a letter with the royal seal upon it.

He instantly opened it and started to read.

_Dear Baron,_

_Please forgive me this, but for reasons beyond my control, I shall not be able to wait for you at the gate as I had anticipated. Please, at your own readiness, use the carriage I have sent for you instead. The driver has orders to stop for no one and bring you directly to the ballroom entrance at the palace._

_Your fears regarding your stepfather were, it appears, justified._

_All of my love,_

_Haru_

Baron hurried to don his suit for the ball before clearing the stairs down in a leap and running for the carriage. He shut the door and ordered the man to go as panic rose in his heart.

As the carriage passed through the gates of the palace, Baron felt the disquietingly familiar tingle of his stepfather's magic. Terror overcame his panic as he watched the carriage grow around him. No, that wasn't it. He was shrinking! The carriage halted before the ballroom and he checked himself over as the footman opened the door for him.

He almost sighed in relief. Nothing else about him had changed except for his stature. Well, things _could_ have been _a lot_ worse.

The now cat-sized cat lord ran into the ballroom, only to be stopped short by what he saw there.

Every man there looked like him, and every girl there looked like the princess. At least, at first glance. Of course, they were all wearing different clothes, and the women were all as feline as the men, and…

Haru was probably the most calm of the entire royal family. Considering the situation, that was definitely a good thing.

When Hiromi had finally come in and roused her, the blonde girl had also been the bearer of a letter addressed to her highness. Haru had read it while Hiromi stripped and dressed her.

"We've got trouble," she had said as the corset was laced.

From there, Haru had sent her letter and coachman to the Baron's house, met with her family to explain what seemed to be going on, and now… Now, as her mother sat on the throne, with Machida and his wife on one side, and Haru on the other, she found herself wondering when Baron would come. The others didn't fool her, but she was beginning to wonder. It was midnight an hour ago and she only had until dawn to locate the one who kept her heart.

About the only thing that had gone right all night was explaining the cat-like features everybody had developed upon entering the palace grounds. Black magic was, after all, not unheard of however forbidden it was. Stating that it would be over by dawn as long as everybody remained calm had, indeed, placated most of them, while the few who were left panicking had been taken to the royal infirmary where they were given sleeping draughts. When they woke, it would all, hopefully, be a bad dream.

Haru scanned the crowds again, hoping to find _her_ Baron.


	13. Chapter 13

Lord de Tourney cursed, but this time in not so magical a way. Through simple pleasure at his son's idea, he had forgotten that crowd control was what the Royal family did best, even politics was a sort of crowd control, and they excelled.

How to incite panic enough that the princess finding the, he chuckled as he recalled, _diminutive_ Humbert would be appropriately difficult? Or rather, and more to the point, much closer to impossible?

An evil smirk slid greasily onto his face.

Every cat-like face in the hall attained identical expressions of shock and then horror as a loud barking filled the ballroom and three of the largest mastiffs bred in the royal kennels ran into the hall. Almost every noble fled screaming, which did not at all help anything. Running simply incited the dogs to chase, and screaming… the screaming was giving Haru a headache.

Turning to her family, Haru was shocked by what she saw. Her mother and sister-in-law were both quaking in terror, and her brother was only just a bit better, attempting to keep at least them calm.

"Machida, will you stay here? I'm going to try and do something about those dogs," Haru said, not even giving her brother time to reply as she swept into the melee of terrified courtiers.

It was hard going, moving against the masses, but finally she reached one of the large dogs and was able to grab hold of its collar. It turned to snap at her.

"No!" she said firmly, shaking the collar and striking it gently on the nose. "Bad, you do _not_ bite me, now behave!"

It recognised the voice at least and perhaps the smell of her underneath the catty smell, and sat back, suitably miserable at having made its mistress unhappy with it.

"Go! Back to your kennel, at once!" she ordered, pointing to the ballroom door.

Tail between its legs, the dog followed the finger towards nervous attendants who were hovering, wondering what they were supposed to do. One grabbed the dog's collar and led it back to the kennels, the rest remaining, hovering still as they watched the princess reach the second and then third dogs, and do the same with each of them.

With just one hour until dawn, the dogs were finally out and the court almost calm again, though every one of them twitched now and then, jumpy for fear of anything else happening that night.

_I still have to find the Baron_, Haru thought to herself, only now truly beginning to worry. For herself, she wouldn't have minded, but her family, the whole court, and even … she could return _everybody's_ humanity at dawn, if only she could find Baron.


	14. Chapter 14

His heart had pounded when he saw the dogs. Any one of them could have caught him up and that would have been the end of him, but it hadn't happened. One lady had made her way to each dog and sent it back to its kennel, tail between its legs.

It _had_ to be Haru.

The shrunken Baron dodged his way through the other courtiers whom he could hear all taking deep breaths, as though forcing themselves to calm down again. Honestly, he didn't blame them, but he had to reach the princess.

Yes, she was there, on the dais, and he could see her lovely brown eyes searching the crowd.

Searching for him.

He moved faster.

Large dresses and buckled shoes got in his way more times than he bothered to count, but at last, he was at the foot of the dais, and as he looked up at her, his heart skipped a beat. When her eyes locked with his, and she smiled, he was certain for a moment that it had stopped.

"Baron," she said, bending down to him. Her voice felt like he was being welcomed home, and he found himself in her arms without ever knowing how he got there.

"My lords and ladies of the court," Haru announced loudly, achieving every … cats… attention. "This ball, as I'm sure you are all aware, has not gone according to plan, _however_, the purpose of this ball was to announce my engagement, and I am pleased to announce that he is here. Baron Humbert von Gikkingken shall take me as his wife, and I will be glad to fulfil that role for him."

Applause filled the ballroom, and Haru gently kissed her fiance. Questions of his further changes didn't need to be asked – everything that had gone wrong with this night she was certain had been caused by the Lord de Tourney.

The lord was most dissatisfied with his sons. They had failed him. That clause, that possibility that the princess might save everybody from their fate – including his stepson and his friends – had proven to be a mistake. Now he was paying for it.

The day after the ball, the royal family had summoned him and his sons, and they had been sentenced. Stripped of their titles, which were then given to Humbert's friends, they had then been separated and put into cells in the prison. There were many different charges, but the worst was no longer black magic. It was treason, and for that, there was only one punishment – death.

Humbert and Haru married almost a month to the day after de Tourney's execution, and as she ran a hand through his orange hair, then down his smooth jaw-line, a bright smile lit her brown eyes.

"What are you thinking of, love?" Humbert asked.

"I'm going to miss the way you purr," she answered. "I love you."

"I love you too," he said, bending his head to kiss his wife.

The End

Oh, no, wait! It can't end just like that… Princess Haru and her husband Prince Humbert went on to have five children, much to the Queen Mother's delight and the rest of the royal family's surprise. Most importantly of all though, they lived happily ever after.


End file.
